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Following Potential 2025 Draftees

I’m a huge Tre guy and even I was cringing at times

He said some things that I actually agree with, but he just takes it too far. Cheapens the whole the argument and makes it seem so unserious lol. Like I definitely think Tre has ball in hand creation ability, but why do you say he’s SGA? I would also draft Tre over Ace, but not because skills are easier to learn than athletic ability.

The whole podcast is like that haha.
 
I tried to nicely pushback and he seems hung up on both guys can pass out of the attention they get… like Book can do that too and he is WAY more similar… it’s just weird to be like “they are completely different as scorers but they share this one similarity kind of… so that’s the comp”.

Also the pg stuff is starting to creep in and like… no… sorry.
He played PG in high school
 
And if you've ever wondered why a player might sandbag his reach for vert, that podcast is a great reason why. If Tre's vertical was 36 inches instead of 38 it's probably not being mentioned 5-6 times to justify him being a great athlete. Nobody talks about Tre's first place lane agility time. Vert is the only one we talk about because it's cool to write and talk about. It's easily manipulated and in practice doesn't matter a ton in the first place.
 
I tried to nicely pushback and he seems hung up on both guys can pass out of the attention they get… like Book can do that too and he is WAY more similar… it’s just weird to be like “they are completely different as scorers but they share this one similarity kind of… so that’s the comp”.

Also the pg stuff is starting to creep in and like… no… sorry.

You know me, I don't care about positions. It's just a lot cooler to say 6'5 PG than it is SG that can playmake.

I think he can play with the ball in his hands in the NBA and believe his off the dribble shooting is such a great skill that it demands top 5 consideration. But then Leif has gotta take it to place that makes me question his understanding of NBA basketball. I know he has covered the league....but are you serious with the SGA comparison? I feel comfortable in saying his passing isn't really a weakness (though his rim pressure is), but this is one of those situations where the theoretical version of a player has taken a life on his own. Having bad teammates and playing in the SEC is doing so much heavy lifting here.
 
You're just overthinking what the max vert test says.

VJ isnt an incredible athlete because he jumps really high. He's an incredible athlete becuase he jumps very high very quickly, which is something the combine doesnt test.
This is probably more important than max vert or the other max athletic measurements. Functional athleticism is about how quickly a person can execute movement (either as initiator or in reaction) 95% of the time.
 
I would guess that if the Jazz stay at 5 the odds of who they draft would look like this:
— Tre (40%)
— Ace (30%)
— Fears (20%)
— VJ (10%)

But I’m assuming the Jazz don’t have an issue with Ace. Almost no one thinks VJ is getting to 5, so that’s why his odds would be low. It’s very likely that one of Tre/Ace WILL get to 5. The question is whether Ace v. Fears is a real discussion, or just a smokescreen.

If the Jazz want Kon, I think they’d trade back a couple spots.
Based on Danny's draft history I think Ace is the pick if he is somehow on the board
 
Its kind of funny that Tre and Kon are pitted against each other. Some assume all of Tre's faults are his teammates/situation and then ascribe Kon's production to great teammates and great situation. Like Leif talked about how Tre struggles to get to the rim but its not because he doesn't beat his guy and declared him a three level scorer... then throws out that NBA spacing will open things up for him. He'd have thousands more assists if his teammates weren't trash.

Tre likely improves and figures some things out for sure but its funny how optimistic folks can be and the narratives they can stretch to fit the case... and then quickly dismiss another guy that has success at something because "it won't work at the next level". Its just kinda funny.

Still good with either guy.
I feel you. Look, Kon clearly put up better stats.

However, the argument for Kon relies on efficiency and a 2 way player extending to the worlds best league with the top athletes. Being efficient and a 2 way player against the top athletes in the world is far from a guarantee.

For that reason, 5 seems like a stretch.

Tre's skill set is as a top scorer. We need a go to guy next to Maarkenan or in lieu of Lauri. Where are we going to get that type of player other than through the draft. For that reason, it is easier to root for a proven scorer.

I will be happy with a number of guys but we need all star potential and Kon has a harder road to get there than Tre.
 
I think the concerns with Tre are real, but his shot making is a cut above most prospects. Needs to shoot a lot more 3's though.
I have zero worries about a coaching staff's ability to convert a lot of his mid-range pull ups into 3s. This is one of the easiest things teams do nowadays. minimize the midrange... To be honest, teams still need a player or two who can reliably pull up from 2 so I don't even think his pull up 2s are a big problem. I think minimal adjustments in his shot diet would do wonders about his efficiency.
 
I'm ready with the top of my board....
------
1. Flagg
------
2. Dylan Harper
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3. Tre Johnson
4. Ace Bailey
5. Jeremiah Fears
6. VJ Edgecombe
------
7. Jase Richardson
8. Noah Essengue
9. Kon Knueppel
10. Cedric Coward
11. Kasparas Jakucionas
12. CMB
------
13. Nolan Traore
14. Walter Clayton Jr
15. Carter Bryant
16. Will Riley
17. Derik Queen
....

Something like this. I will be adding more as I watch more
Disclaimer - this is with minimal tape watching of the players past 10 or thereabout so take with a bucket of salt.
 
Rewatching some Tre Johnson and I do think that some of the things he struggled with are very coachable things. The only thing that might not be coachable, that still kind of concerns me is that he definitely avoids contact. But even then he seems to get better over time. This game is a good example of him getting his shoulder in to the defender to create space and get a shot up. He almost never did this at the start of the year (that I could find), but did it more often towards the end of the season. (look at the 3 minute mark) Just don't watch the defensive part of the video.


View: https://youtu.be/DG3_wZtFwnw?si=gqlCHemgkSAGGf_E
 
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